14 September 2010
The education watchdog Ofsted today exposed serious flaws in provision for children with special educational needs and disabilities, calling for ‘a shift in direction’.
A major review by the inspectorate found ‘widespread weaknesses’ across the current system and considerable variation in whether or not children were identified as having special needs. It says there is often too much focus on providing statements of need and checking pupils are getting extra services. Too little attention is given to whether the extra support is helping or not.
The review recommends that schools should ‘stop identifying pupils as having special educational needs when they simply need better teaching and pastoral support’.
Special educational needs and disability review – a statement is not enough was commissioned last year by the previous government. It covered provision during early years, compulsory education, education from 16 to 19, and the contribution of social care and health services. Some 1.7 million school age children in England are currently identified as having a special educational need or disability.
Ofsted chief executive Christine Gilbert said: ‘Although we saw some excellent support for children with special educational needs, and a huge investment of resources, overall there needs to be a shift in direction.
‘For those children with complex and severe special needs, schools often need the help of health and social care services. All these services should be focused on the quality of what they are doing, and on how well young people are doing as a result. At the moment, too much effort is going into simply checking that extra services are being provided.’
